The overarching goal of the "Minority Global Health Disparities Research Training Program" is to provide international health disparity research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate/medical students who are from health disparities populations. The program is also directed at increasing the students'ability to function effectively in a global environment as well as gain insights into different cultures and ethical aspects of research. Inherent in this objective is for the trainees to realize the universality of requirements for critical thinking and quantitative thought in the global human health research arena, as well as the culture and ethical aspects of conducting research abroad. The ultimate goal of this program is to meet the nations need for increasing the number of highly motivated minority researchers who pursue biomedical, biobehavioral, and clinical research careers. In essence, our plan has four components: 1) planning, assessment and student selection;2) student preparation for foreign research experience;3) research experience in a foreign country;and 4) evaluation. Even though the research at foreign sites will be at different institutions, the research and other components are united by their focus on health disparities of underserved populations. A consortium of U.S. (Johns Hopkins University, Winston-Salem State University, North Carolina A&T State University, and The Leadership Alliance at Brown University) and foreign faculty (Goteborgs University, Gothenburg, Sweden;University of New Castle, Australia;University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban South Africa;Cape Town South Africa;and Yonsei University, Seoul South Korea) will further develop, implement and evaluate the program. The program will accommodate 40 undergraduate and 10 graduate/medical students over a 5 year period. Our capabilities to contribute to the pool of competitive Baccalaureates from health disparities populations who enter graduate/doctoral degree programs in the biomedical, biobehavioral and clinical sciences will be greatly enhanced. Participation will have both short-term and long-term positive effects. The program plans include evaluation and strategic recruitment with emphasis on underrepresented minorities, as well as training in the ethical conduct of research, scientific integrity, and cultural competence. RELEVANCE: The MHIRT program is designed to increase the number of minority scientists participating in biomedical/biobehavioral research. As the number of minorities gradually increases in the entire U.S. population, it is in the best interest of the nation to have well-prepared minorities as effective members of multicultural interdisciplinary scientific health care teams to better address the country's peed of reducing and eliminating health disparities. This goal is supported by minorities and underserved populations